A rare, intact survival from the Umayyad period (756-1031), this long, carved wooden beam is a work of austere beauty. The foliated motifs do not seem to grow organically from the letters as they usually do in Fatimid objects; rather they act as added decoration. There are some exuberant moments, however, in the decorative use of letters. The word for God (Allah) is treated with special decorative significance the three times it is repeated in the inscription. The wooden beam, which would most likely have been fitted in a mosque, is inscribed with parts of the “Light Verse” from the Qur’an (Ayat al-Nur, 24: 35–36): God is the Light of the heavens and the earth; the likeness of His Light is as a niche wherein is a lamp, the lamp in a glass, the glass as it were a glittering star kindled from a Blessed Tree, an olive that is neither of the East nor of the West whose oil wellneigh would shine, even if no fire touched it; Light upon Light; God guides to His Light whom He will. And God strikes similitudes for men, and God has knowledge of everything. In houses God has allowed to be raised up and His name to be commemorated therein. This famous verse from the Qur’an is often inscribed on mosque lamps, which thus become symbols of divine light. One can imagine the present wooden beam in a mosque, its monumental kufic inscription softly illuminated by a nearby hanging lamp, both objects symbolising the presence of God.

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About the Aga Khan Museum

The Aga Khan Museum, due to open in 2014 in Toronto, Canada, will be dedicated to the acquisition, preservation and display of artefacts - from various periods and geographies - relating to the intellectual, cultural, artistic and religious heritage of Islamic communities.Find out more